Point Taken
Photo. Jonathan MannionJust when you thought the Cavs were better than mediocre, reality stepped in. More accurately, the Mavs stepped on Cleveland’s neck. LeBron didn’t even take a shot for most of the first quarter, yet Cleveland stayed in the game partly due to his passing. On one play ‘Bron had it on the block with his back to the basket. Future Hall of Famer (?) Dirk Nowitzki, who was guarding Drew Gooden on the opposite side of the paint, took one too many steps over toward LeBron, and as soon as he did, ‘Bron whipped a behind-the-back dime to Gooden for the bucket. The Cavs were looking alright, then the next thing you know, they’re getting spanked and their lack of talent comes shining through. It was a 20-piece McNugget by halftime … LeBron (10 pts, 2-for-11 FGs, 5 turnovers) looked thoroughly uninspired once the beating set in. He broke out a Magic-esque baby hook at one point, but that was his first field goal of the game and it happened well into the third quarter. It was almost like ‘Bron was doing the Kobe thing where he doesn’t shoot the ball on purpose while trying to prove a point. Wednesday’s point? Get me some f’n help … How bad was it? J.J. Barea, Brandon Bass and Trenton Hassell were all getting burn in the first quarter. Dallas’ ball movement had the Cavs looking like a high school squad trying to mess with pros, and defense is supposed to be Cleveland’s strength … The Cavs should never, ever wear their orange throwbacks at home again. It’s just ugly, and you end up with poor Donyell Marshall looking like Otto the Orange. Oh, and Drew Gooden’s jumper isn’t any better, but he definitely looks like he stepped up his bad-carbs game in the offseason … Did you hear Kobe almost got traded last night? A three-way deal that would have sent Kobe to the Bulls, Ron Artest and Ben Wallace to L.A., and something to Sacramento (presumably Kirk Hinrich or Ben Gordon) reportedly came close to happening but ultimately fell through. Funny, we just talked to Big Ben the other day about the Kobe trade rumors, but this was back when Luol Deng and Gordon and pretty much every Bull but Wallace were the names popping up. Click here to read that interview … Did we say it would take a while for Gilbert Arenas to get his rhythm back? Opening Night for the guy, and he’s already in midseason form, sticking a trey at the buzzer to force OT against the Pacers. Arenas had Jamaal Tinsley stuck to him like cheap soda residue on the last possession, but fought him off and hit a step-back jimmy. It didn’t matter that Gil (34 pts) had been 0-for-6 beyond the arc before that; there was no way anyone else was taking that shot … Kevin Durant’s first game turned into the A.I. & ‘Melo Show. KD put up 18 points, Delonte West probably took Earl Watson’s job, and the Sonics were actually in the game until they gave away a series of possessions late in the third quarter and allowed Denver to take control. Iverson was all over the place with 25 points, 14 dimes and 7 steals, and Carmelo scored 32 … KD clearly has the green light (as expected) and he isn’t shy at all about launching shots. We don’t know if was nerves or what, but Kevin definitely rushed a bunch of shots early on, including airballing a baby hook from just a few feet away. Give him a chance to settle in and he’ll cool … Kenyon Martin got the start, and while you couldn’t tell he was coming off an injury, you could tell he hadn’t been under the lights for a year. On his first touch, K-Mart barreled into the lane and tried to eat Nick Collison’s children; his second touch he jacked up an 18-footer that bricked hard; then he got two quick fouls. When K-Mart got back on the court, he punched a Chris Wilcox shot to the frank man, then did his spazz-out dance after a dunk. If Nene keeps blowing layups, K-Mart’s minutes will rise … Milwaukee’s front court was completely decimated by Dwight (16 pts, 12 rebs, 7 blks), Rashard (26 pts) and Hedo (24 pts) — and those three didn’t even play in the fourth quarter, when Adonal Foyle was putting in work. Yi Jianlian fouled out during his contractually-mandated 25 minutes of burn … Orlando announcer Matt Goukas on Charlie Villanueva: “He looks a little mushy.” … It’s going to be a LONG two months for Sacramento. They literally don’t have anyone who can dribble the basketball; the Hornets were trapping whoever brought the ball past half court, usually forcing whoever it was into curling up fetal-style away from Chris Paul (22 pts, 12 asts, 8 rebs, 3 stls) and crew. The Kings need to sign someone ASAP. Where you at, Gary Payton? Earl Boykins? Jared Jordan? Homicide? Seriously, you know who would be good for Sacramento? Randy Livingston … We’re out like Yi …
November 1st, 2007 at 6:51 am
Jason says:
Wow, If that 3 way deal went thru- Ron Ron and Big Ben on same team… Interesting
November 1st, 2007 at 7:24 am
sans says:
Delonte seriously took Watson’s job, and a concussion home from Camby’s elbow to the temple. What about the Raptors and Indy? Mike Dunleavy liking his new role vs. Bosh and Bargnani dropping buckets. Good OT game. Indy shot like 52% from three.
November 1st, 2007 at 7:31 am
sans says:
Sorry, I confused Phi v. Raptors and Indy v. Wiz. Still Barge hit 20 in 22 min. Lamarcus and him are looking real real nice.
November 1st, 2007 at 7:31 am
Gee says:
When Dwight Howard comes out to play that line from Lil Wayne should just play somewhere.
I am the BEAST!
Plain silly the way he was killin dudes!
November 1st, 2007 at 8:13 am
Captain America says:
Phil Jackson says he will announce his future plans in the coming days. Is he into rebuilding…..no way
November 1st, 2007 at 8:15 am
Captain America says:
Kobe v. coach Scott Skiles…bring it
November 1st, 2007 at 8:23 am
Dre in O Town says:
Dwight eats a healthy dose of front court players for breakfast every morning.
November 1st, 2007 at 8:44 am
FK in Toronto says:
I hope that Dime’s not planning on giving the Cavs a half page reach-around after each of their games this year.
2007-08 theme Cavs get pounded & you devote half your space to it.
Nice
November 1st, 2007 at 8:51 am
Brown says:
Please don’t drink the kool-aid on the Raptors. Most Raptor fans aren’t real ball fans, and fail to see the team’s weaknesses. They literally couldn’t guard ANYBODY who had half a mind to take it to the rim last night, and were leaving Korver wide open like he’s not one of the league’s deadliest shooters. Plus they had MAYBE five buckets in the paint. If they play like that against half-decent teams, they may not even make the playoffs this year.
November 1st, 2007 at 8:58 am
Kobeef says:
Rashard and Dwight looked awesome (7 blocks,,,are you kidding me). Great to see that after all the magic have been through.
Yeah – where is the Raptors mention? Bargnani looked great last night starting at C, getting some boards for a change, blocking shots and hitting 3’s. Looks like a big year for the Italian big.
Interesting that Ben Wallace is coming up in trade talks….I wonder if the bulls are starting to re-think that big contract.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:04 am
smity says:
Antwan jamison- 16 boards
November 1st, 2007 at 9:06 am
Chi-Town Playa says:
CP3 His around the back floater was sick
Richard Jefferson Did he pound his chest one to many times after that 3 point dagger?
Denver Looked like an Olympic shot-putter team the way they were throwing the ball to A.I after he would break to the other end.
Rudy Gay needs to talk to Agent-0 about his High Quality shot. Is it me or did he take that last shot with 3 sec left almost at mid-court? I don’t know why I’m looking for him to avg 25/5/5 this season.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:08 am
smity says:
and also kevin martin just keeps on scorin’
November 1st, 2007 at 9:13 am
Tom Toronto says:
First of all Brown, eat a dick for saying most Raptor fans aren’t real ball fans. I’ve been a Raps fan since ‘95, and I know plenty. You’re right about our defense, and our rotation on D was brutal last year too. Last night the team looked lazy, but we got a W against a weak sixers squad. But damn, Sans just happened to mention the game (since smack didn’t) and you get your panties all in a bunch. Chill out a bit, Toronto is excited, we’ve been supporting bullshit teams for a long time, we’ve finally got a reason to be a little optimistic!
November 1st, 2007 at 9:22 am
London says:
Brown, did you watch the game? 5 buckets in the paint? I guess the layups they were running when the were up 21 don’t count? Don’t get me wrong, the Raps have a long way to go on D, but miss the playoffs? They played all 12 players in the first half and 11 scored, Bosh played like 20 mins so how can you judge them. It’s the first game of the year, and the only reason the game was close weas Dalembert, who was a beast.Real ball fans? I was probably attending live NBA games before you were born son. Don’t paint everyone with the same brush. How would you like to be associated with George W? So I take it the Cavs aren’t going to make the playoffs either?
November 1st, 2007 at 9:23 am
djKianoosh says:
AI, Melo and the Nuggs looked fantastic. I really don’t see how JR Smith fits into this rotation anymore. Nene needs to seriously stop going up weak with those layups. “Slam it down!!” I always liked Najera as a glue guy and it looks like Karl kept him in for big minutes in the 4th, along with Kleiza who was getting tons of open looks from deep. He’s not as streaky as JR either. So the role players I think are in place for Denver. Don’t mess with this rotation, Denver! Just play a little better D.
I was impressed with the Sonics, especially Delonte West. If Carlesimo realized one thing from this game is that Delonte is going to be a major contributor on this team. Durant’s game will come. he was rushing shots in the 1st half, but in the 2nd he was more calm and authoritative if that makes sense.
when josh howard comes back, who’s spot does he take again?
November 1st, 2007 at 9:23 am
Andy Buckets says:
I like what Orlando has going on. Howard and Lewis are gonna put in work. Nelson is solid, and hopefully Hedo keeps up the good play.
BUT WHAT ABOUT J.J.? Losing the starting spot to Keith Bogans? That’s crazy. The way its looking like Redick might not be able to cut it in the L.
Oh, yeah…Delonte pulled that starting pg spot right from under Earl Watson!
November 1st, 2007 at 9:50 am
E-ROC says:
The Cavs aren’t going to make the playoffs. They are horrible.
Nene is fat and out of shape. I guess $60 million will do that for ya. K-Mart is going to take his minutes.
Bogans got the job because he plays defense. Also, the Magic need instant offense off the bench and JJ provides that and can provide it quickly.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:57 am
Rob says:
Is it just me or did the supposed trade for Kobe make zero sense. Ron Ron and Big Ben huh? So do they play next to Bynum and LO, don’t forget Ron Ron is about a yr out from being a free agent. oh yea who the hell would score for that team!? As for the Kings don’t we have a 2 guard we just invested 11 mil a yr in!? and any trade not gettng rid of K9 or Rahim is a BAD idea.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:00 am
Triple Threat says:
No love for the Raps in Smack today. Come on boyz, we got some real ball fans on this side of the border.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:20 am
smity says:
toronto fans- (collectively) chill, just cause your team doesnt get any smack mention doesnt make their win last night ( and their future wins this season) insignificant. I’m from chicago. the bulls only got mentioned cause of the kobe situation (and they lost to a team they Should Have beaten) but it doesnt matter that they didnt get mentioned. if youre a smack reader/fan and dime supporter then youre not reading it to see if your team gets a shout out (at least i’m not.) you like the content they put up anyway. Also enough with the “You guys don’t know what you’re talking about dime. You don’t think my favorite player is going to be a hall of famer. I’m never reading your b.s. again” type comments. be for real and stop crying. toronto fans though- i respect you all’s love for the game (and in particular your team) but think about the other teams/players/ games that don’t get mentioned before you all form like voltron and start complaining in the comments section (you too, utah…remember 98? Jordan shooting? Byron Russell fallin?…that was the sh–t)
November 1st, 2007 at 10:27 am
Bron42 says:
pretty sure gordon and artest were goin to the lakers while ben wallace was goin to the kings…could just be me though.
ya raptors fans need to settle down..i dont kno who is worse, them or the annoying ass jazz fans who complain about every single stat. You guys beat a terrible sixers team and are complainin like dime just ignored your championship.
Orlando always looks nice at first, then jameer has a few turn overs and dwight stops hitting foul shots. Although his form is still funky, dwight was lookin decent from the line and lewis was in video game mode with the jab steps.
cavs..cavs..cavs….tough.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:30 am
ashto says:
“K-Mart barreled into the lane and tried to eat Nick Collison’s children”
Jajajjajaja
Thats funny
November 1st, 2007 at 10:30 am
Duke says:
Kirk hinrich, Luol Deng, and Kobe would be sick.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:33 am
Austin Burton says:
I turned to the Raps/Sixers game at the beginning of the second half, and there were maybe 500 people in the stands. Seriously. Toronto had the game in the bag until they decided to stop guarding Korver and let Iguodala run all over them on the break. Philly was in good shape until Dalembert made that dumb foul on Bargnani on the 4-point play. And Bosh looked bad; missing shots, getting his stuff swatted, turning it over in big spots and and barely rebounding.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:58 am
CHI-C says:
It sounds like it’s only a matter of time ’til KOBE comes to the CHI. YEAH BABY
November 1st, 2007 at 11:13 am
Brown says:
Well I’m glad some real Raps fans have finally stood up. It’s just disappointing to see so many Leafs fans parading as Raptor fans. They love the positives but fail to see the team’s deficiencies, and are loyal to a fault. Raps are a very solid team, but until they can put up a solid defensive effort and show some willingness to rebound (which has been their achilles heel for 2-3 years now), they’re not gonna be much better than last year (i.e. getting bounced in the first round). I’m just not sold on them that’s all I was trying to say. Philly is the worst team in their division, and if they put up the same lackluster effort against the rest of the division, they could find themselves in trouble this season.
November 1st, 2007 at 11:49 am
Gee says:
Antwan jamison 8-25 shooting.
November 1st, 2007 at 11:50 am
Bobby B says:
I’m a big Raptors fan, but I agree with a lot of the comments here; we gots to chill! They’re a fun team to watch with CB4, Bargnani, and possibly the best PG situation in the league (Ford starting, and Calderon off the bench). But, I have a feeling the Raptors will break the collective hearts of fans across Canada. Their rebounding and interior defense is atrocious.
They won’t be making any noise in the playoffs if they can’t play some decent D. The Raptors need to get Dikembe, or SOMEBODY that will rebound and play a little interior defense. I don’t care how old Mutombo is, but at least the dude tries to grab rebounds and block shots. Colangelo is a pretty slick GM, so hopefully he has something up his sleeve.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:22 pm
zpurz says:
spurs won. in case anyone was wondering. 80 more wins until prefection.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Eric says:
Imagine Ron Ron and Big Ben on the same team! The two that started the BRAWL in Detroit a few years back. I wouldn’t wanna mess with that team!
November 1st, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Tom Toronto says:
Smity: “Toronto fans forming like voltron” lol love that.
Brown: I do hear you, I know a lot of Torontonians are jumping on the Raps bandwagon. Last year’s chants of MVP for Bosh are pretty clear indicators of that. CB is nice, but come on.
For all the rest, take it easy on the smack begging. It was the same last year. I don’t need the dime commentary, I saw the Raps game, I know what happened. Still, I love the enthusiasm!
And finally for Austin: The game was supposedly a sell out last night, 19,800 people. At the start of the 3rd the place would be empty, you’re right, but only because the ACC lineups are crazy long. The guys washroom at half time are like a 20 minute wait, and if you want a piece of pizza you might make it back to see the 4th
November 1st, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Austin Burton says:
The stands were full again for the fourth quarter, but that place was ghost-town for most of the 3rd.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:31 pm
ben says:
I’m pretty sure you left Raptors out of smack on purpose just to see the reaction from up North.
But I honestly do expect a big year from the Raps. Hop on the Bargnani bandwagon while there’s still room…this kid is going to be a stud
November 1st, 2007 at 1:37 pm
nick says:
the raps D is need of some serious help. They can score with anyone but can’t stop anyone. What the team needs is an enforcer type player with some toughness. Cause it seems teams are not afraid to come down the lane at will.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Kudabeen says:
Again for the Griz. Kyle makes a big difference, but Damon looked dialed in too! But again Manuel Ginobli shows and proves who’s the Spurs real go to guy in the clutch, dude is a tough cover. What happened to Darko’s moxie after the first quarter? Pau looked really soft too often, I never really saw it before when people would say it, but some of his attempts were begging to be blocked.
Nuggets didn’t look fantastic to me. They looked like a team too confident in their Offense and would relax and watch layups happen. Iverson line was what he does and doesn’t get enough credit for. People ride other guys as being stat stuffers, when Iverson scores so much his other states go unappreciated. Melo could have had 50 if he wanted to break a sweat.
If PJ knows what’s best for him Earl would be coming off the bench, but I can see his reasoning. The nuggets and suns tonight have bigger guards coming off the bench than starting, but West has to get more time. Jeff Green looked gun shy and a little tentative. I want to see how he and Durant plays tonight. It’s great waiting for Durant’s breakout game, when he just gives someone 40 and leads his team. Last night he had a snare until Melo went to work on him on the other end, but I like that he had that in him.
Why was Bogut trying to get physical with Dwight at first? Later in the game you could clearly see Bogut realized the truth of it all. Also Bogut and Jameer were talking trash to each other, wonder what that’s about…Wow fancy that Reshard Lewis can score in the NBA and look unguardable…Bogans deserves to start and he did a good job on Redd, while knocking down a couple threes. But i didn’t like the lack of production from Dooling, Arroyo, and Ariza. Hopefully it gets better with time…
That Kobe trade as reported sounds pretty wack for everyone but the Bulls…I thought LA’s big thing was star power and entertainment. Artest and Big Ben are great players, but they aren’t selling tickets…
What’s the over under on the Heats Pistons game. Pistons by 15?
November 1st, 2007 at 1:46 pm
D-NICE says:
All I gotta say is brown stop talkin dat smack ( no pun intended) bout raps fans not being real ball fans. I’ve been wit dis team thru thick and thin and I am a hoops junkie. I agree we still got to work on our weaknesses, but its a long season with a few more new faces. No doubt we wil be in the playoffs this year.
November 1st, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Amar says:
Raps can score and score and score, defense happens to be an afterthought, but how is that any different than with the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards or Denver Nuggets? (yeah, camby is on the nuggles,but that’s a team that still gave up 58 points to seattle in the first half) Last I checked all of those teams made the playoffs last season.
People calling out other peoples’ fan bases is weak. (because generalizations and absolutes are always faulty) Enjoy the game, and if you are part of the media, then report the game. HoopsTV started out repping the unheralded. If I wanted to go read articles that act like 2/5th of the L doesn’t even exist I’d read and post on things like ESPN and so forth.
The Atlantic division is going to be really good to watch this season.
November 1st, 2007 at 2:46 pm
djKianoosh says:
the atlantic? you mean minus the sixers, right?
November 1st, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Amar says:
Sixers aren’t going to make much noise this season, but they can beat some good teams like how Memphis did that last season. No one expects them to have good pieces, but they can beat teams that over-look them. Raps almost got beat last night.
November 1st, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Triple Threat says:
Well, I’m from British Columbia and I ain’t know Hockey fan, I’ve always loved basketball. I was bent when the Griz left town, I even had Blue Edwards Jersy, a Blue Edwards jersy, yeah I thought he was the man lol. Anyway, the Raps need some muscle in the paint, guys who are willing to bang for broads and defend the paint.
Anyway, last year, I thought they improved on their Defense, Barni was getting beat at times, but atleast he showed more potential than Dirk on defense. As for leafs, I have no idea how they are doing, my channel is always on Raptors TV. Hoop Dreams exist here too, so stop hatin and lets us in.
November 1st, 2007 at 4:03 pm
smity says:
michael dickerson had a promising future. it was messed up that he had to retire…
November 1st, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Amar says:
blue edwards had that child custody case, stu jax would play bibby, shareef, mike d and the rest of the starters for three quarters straight, and they’d be dead tired by the time it was the last 4 mins of games, and lose that way. the franchi$e thing also hurts. then again, drafting big country also hurts. west got traded to the grizz, then became an alcoholic in an air port bar. it’s a shame that the nba players had trouble living in vancouver . . . according to charles oakley, 60% of the L would have had some good reasons to enjoy living there.
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:58 am
Willis says:
man the Kings suck. Gotta love Kmart 2. He was scoring even though NO tried to contain him and when they did the twins from the rec leaugue (Garcia and Salmons) chipped in. Peja lookes good though.